Liquid dispenser having a closure cap



April 22, 1969 D. F. CORSETTE LIQUID DISPENSER HAVING A CLOSURE CAP Filed Aug. 14, 1967 M. 1 ,1 6 6 8 re 0 3 n 1 w m mm/ 0 w 3 V Q1 & Iii| m Im 5 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,439,843 LIQUID DISPENSER HAVING A CLOSURE CAP Douglas F. Corsette, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Diamond International Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 660,470 Int. Cl. B65d 39/08 US. Cl. 222212 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plastic squeeze bottle formed with a neck having an internal constriction spaced from its mouth and fitted with an axially movable unitary valve closure. The closure carries a plug disposed for sealing engagement with said constriction, and is provided with a discharge passage opening into the plug from a location above the constriction and communicating with the atmosphere. A continuous seal is maintained by an enlarged stopper in sealing engagement with the neck above the constriction. An internally threaded skirt provides for securing and axially moving the closure on the container neck and snap beads on the neck and skirt respectively limit the axial movement of the closure.

Background of the invention This invention relates to improvements in a combination container and closure in which the closure acts as a dispensing valve for the liquid contents of the container. Generally speaking, the invention is of the type broadly exemplified in the United States patents to Collins 3,118,578 and Moran 3,261,513.

In the Collins device, however, rotary movement of the closure is required to bring its discharge passages into registry and angular orientation of the container and closure is required incident to their assembly. In the Moran type of device, although the container and closure are relatively rotatable, no angular orientation of the closure on the container is required, the closure being moved axially between dispensing and sealing positions. However, in the type of device exemplified by the Moran disclosure, the internal seal within the container neck is necessarily disengaged in order to position the closure in dispensing position leaving only the inter-engaged threaded portions of the closure skirt and container neck to resist leakage of the container contents.

With these factors in mind, the present invention provides a device in which the closure is movable axially between a closed sealing position and an open dispensing position without the requirement for angular orientation between the parts and in addition provides an internal seal within the container neck which remains fully operative in both positions of the closure.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the container neck is formed with an internal constriction spaced from its mouth and the closure is provided with a stopper which is axially slidable in the neck above the constriction and of sufiicient axial extent to maintain an effective seal throughout the range of operative movement of the closure. The closure also includes a plug 3,439,843 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 which depends below the stopper and is of smaller diameter than the stopper to be radially inwardly spaced from the neck above the constriction, though of a diameter for snug sealing engagement with the constriction in the closed sealing position of the closure. When the closure is axially moved or raised to withdraw the plug from the constriction the contents of the container is permitted to pass through the constriction and into the annular space thereabove between the plug and the neck to thence flow into a discharge passage extending through the closure to the atmosphere with its inner end opening through the plug into the annular space above mentioned.

Brief description of the drawing In the preferred exemplification of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the upper end portion of a container having a closure applied thereto in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged diametrical cross-section through the structure shown in FIGURE 1, with the closure in sealing position;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, but with the closure in dispensing position;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, showing a modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a section in an axial plane through FIGURE 4;

FIGURES 6 and 7, respectively, are views, similar to FIGURE 5, of further modifications of the invention.

Detailed description of the invention In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings there is shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 a more or less conventional container 10' which appears in the form of a plastic collapsible or squeeze container having a tubular neck .11 defining a mouth 12 at its upper end. Extending inwardly from the mouth of the neck is an internal cylindrical portion 14 of comparatively large diameter. A reduced diameter cylindrical portion 16, coaxial with the portion 14, provides a constriction which preferably is joined to the portion 14 by means of a generally downwardly converging conical tapered surface 17.

The numeral 18 designates in its entirety a dispensing closure in the form of a cap of unitary plastic construction which is supported on the neck both for rotation and for axial movement between a raised dispensing position (as shown in FIGURE 3), and a lowered sealing position (as shown in FIGURE 2). In the present embodiment, the closure 18 comprises a substantially circular top wall 20 which extends across the mouth 12 of the container and from which a stopper 22, in the form of an annular sleeve, depends into the. enlarged diameter portion 14 of the neck in snug radial sealing engagement therewith. It will be obvious that such sealing engagement is maintained despite relative rotary and axial movement between the container and the closure. Further the closure comprises a plug portion or plug 24, preferably in the form of a sleeve which is coaxial with and preferably radially spaced from the stopper 22 and depends from the top wall 20 to a location substantially below the stopper for sealing engagement with the constriction 16 in the fully closed or sealed position of the closure 18, as shown in FIGURE 2. However, it is to be noted that the lower end of the plug terminates at an axial location such that in the raised dispensing position of the closure, as shOWn in FIGURE 3, it is spaced above and disengaged from the constriction whereby to permit passage of the container contents through the constriction upwardly and into the annular space 26 between the plug and the enlarged diameter portion 14 of the container neck.

The plug 24 is formed with a discharge passage 28 one end of which opens upwardly through the container top wall to the atmosphere, while the inner end thereof opens radially through the cylindrical outer wall of the plug into the annular space 26. The passage extends through a conduit defining portion or mass of plastic material within and integral with the sleeve-like plug. The passage 28 is thus arranged to communicate with the annular space 26 which in turn communicates through the constriction 16 with the interior of the container when the closure is raised to its dispensing position. However, when the closure is pressed down onto the container neck to its closed or sealed position, the depending lower end portion of the plug sealingly engages the constriction 16.

It is to be noted that in the dispensing position of the closure as well as in its sealed position, the sliding seal or stop 22 operatively engages the inner surface of the neck adjacent its mouth 12 to maintain an eflicient sealing relationship between these parts at all times.

It will be seen that in the preferred embodiment the upper end of the discharge passage 28 opens outwardly through the axial center of the top wall through a discharge nozzle 30 which is surrounded by a partly flaring protective sleeve 32.

While the closure cap may be readily manually moved between its operative positions, it is desirable to achieve such movement with a certain degree of mechanical advantage so as to readily overcome the frictional resistance between the stopper 22 and container neck as well as to firmly seat and seal plug 24 in the constriction 16.Therefore, it has been found desirable to provide the container neck with external threads 34 for cooperation with internal threads 36 within the depending skirt 38 of the closure cap.

Manifestly, downward movement of the closure 18 onto the closure neck 11 will be limited by engagement between the upper end of the neck and the lower face of the closure top wall 20 when the closure is in its predetermined sealing position.

In order to limit the upward axial movement of the closure and to determine its proper axial dispensing position, there may be provided around the container neck a snap bead 40 for cooperation with an internal snap bead 42 within the skirt 38. It will be noted that the snap bead 42 is located in spaced relation below the snap head 40 in the fully applied sealing position of the closure (as in FIGURE 3) and at a location such as to engage the bead 40 and resist further unthreading movement of the closure when the latter is moved axially to its dispensing position.

In the operation of the invention which is believed to be apparent from the foregoing description, the closure 18 is applied to the container 16 after filling of the latter, merely by threading it fully onto the container neck 11 and into a fully sealed and tightened relation thereon. Thereafter, when it is desired to dispense a portion of the contents of the container, the closure is partially unthreaded to bring the snap beads 42 and 40 into abutting engagement and thus to position the closure in its dispensing position. With the parts so positioned, the container may then be inverted and squeezed so as to expel some of its contents upwardly through the annular gap between the plug 24 and constriction 16 and thence into annular space 26 for movement into and through the dis- 7 charge passage 28, as indicated by the arrows in FIG- URE 3, regardless of the angular position of the closure at the time.

It will be readily appreciated that both the threads 34 and 26, and the snap beads 40 and 42 are not essential to the invention, but that these may be omitted if desired, in which event the axial positioning of the closure may be accomplished simply by manual pushing and pulling, or by other means than the threads.

In the modified embodiment shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, the construction and operation are generally similar to those of FIGURES 1 to 3, and corresponding parts are designated by similar reference characters, bearing the suifix a.

In the modification, however, the discharge passage 28a extends diagonally to the axis of the neck and closure, for generally radial discharge, and the guard sleeve 32 is omitted.

It will have previously been noted that in FIGURES 1 through 5, the valve plug 24, 24a is proportioned for snug telescoping reception in, and radial sealing engagement with the inner periphery of the neck constriction 16, in a manner similar to that in which the stopper 22 cooperates with the mouth 12 and adjacent large diameter portion of the neck, This has the advantage of insuring that both the stopper and plug will establish efilcient seals in a range of axial positions at which the top wall 20 of the closure might engage the end of the bottle neck. Thus a substantial range of tolerance is permissible in the formation of such a closure.

In the modification of FIGURE 6, however, the tapered end surface 25 of the plug 24b is of a diameter to seat axially against the tapered surface 17a of the neck, or in other words against the upper end of the constriction 16a.

In the modification of FIGURE 7, the plug 240 is provided with an end surface 25c in a radial plane for axial abutting sealing engagement with a radial annular shoulder 170.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a container having a tubular neck defining a mouth at its upper end and formed internally with an annular constriction spaced from its mouth, and with an internal cylindrical portion 14 of larger diameter than the constriction located between said mouth and the constriction, a dispensing valve closure supported on said neck for limited axial movement between a raised dispensing position and a lowered sealing position; said closure comprising a cylindrical stopper portion for snug axial sliding reception in said internal cylindrical portion of the container neck and for sealing engagement with said internal cylindrical portion of the neck in all operative positions of the closure; and an externally cylindrical plug of lesser diameter than the stopper depending from the closure coaxially with and below the stopper for axial movement with the closure into and from sealing engagement with said constriction, said closure and said neck defining an annular space around the plug between said constriction and said stopper portion, said closure being formed with a discharge passage opening radially thereinto from said annular space and extending through the top wall of the closure into communication with the atmosphere.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said container comprises a plastic squeeze bottle.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said plug is telescopically received in said constriction in radial sealing engagement therewith.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 in Which said plug is proportioned for axial sealing engagement with said constriction.

5. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said pending skirt encircling said neck, said skirt being formed internally with an annular bead positioned in spaced relation below said neck bead in the sealing position of the closure and adapted for axial abutment with the neck bead in the dispensing position of the closure.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which said closure comprises a top wall axially abutting the upper end of said neck, said plug and said stopper being coaxially secured to the top wall.

7. The combination defined in claim 6 in which said stopper and said plug, respectively, comprise generally cylindrical skirts in coaxial relation, said skirt of the plug including a conduit defining portion through which said passage extends.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,545,103 7/1925 Huntoon 222 520 2,051,513 8/1936 Bingham 222 520 5 3,067,916 12/1962 Lerner 222-s19 3,118,578 1/1964 Collins 222548 3,122,285 2/1964 P111885 222-212 3,261,513 7/1966 Moran 222-519 WALTER SOBIN, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

